into the realm of frozen dreams
by shushufangirl
Summary: trowa's an elf, duo's an angel, heero's half-demon, quatre's a dragon and wufei...a murderous desire to own trowa drives the dragon prince to destroy all that he loves including the angel with beautiful purple eyes
1. The Dragon Prince's Jade Doors

  
  
Part one:  
  
The Dragon Prince's Jade Doors  
  
***  
  
I can hear him calling me. He will come for me soon.  
  
***  
  
  
In the darkness of the cell they shared Trowa opened his green eyes and focused on the boy sitting across from him. He had never seen him sleep and has never actually heard his voice.   
  
And having nothing but the four walls of his prison to talk to for the last hundred years, he found himself at a lost at the new addition. He had his companion for the last year and still he did not know his name.   
  
The brown haired boy was definitely human and he was beautiful, it was no surprise that the Prince asked for him as much as he asked for Trowa, his favorite. He closed his eyes once more. Another day in this dungeon where time does not matter. It could be morning or midnight outside and it still would not make a difference to the ones rotting away inside the harem's jade doors.  
  
Heh, rotting is too harsh.  
  
The truth is, they were in the Prince's collection and they were treated very well and lived in luxury but all contact to the outside world was forbidden. True they could talk to each other, but Trowa was not much on talking and he preferred his solitude, for being an elf whose life span surpassed those around him, he made it a point never to get attached to anyone. It made losing them easier. Perhaps today he would be summoned, or perhaps he would be rescued and perhaps he would be able to see the sky once more. He no longer cared.  
  
"Trowa, his highness calls on you." he looked at the guard, nodded and left his cushions.  
  
***  
  
The dimly lit room was filled with candles and roses. The faint smell of incense wafted in the air and in the middle of the room curtains were hung to cover the Prince's cushions.   
  
"Trowa is that you?" he heard his soft voice coming from the center of the lush red pillows.  
  
"Yes." He answered.  
  
"Come here." He did as he was told and approached him. He drew the curtains aside and saw the Prince lying with his hands cradling his head.  
  
"Hold me." He whimpered, his tear-stained eyes pleading with him.  
  
"What is the matter my Prince?" he asked enfolding the boy in his arms.   
  
"I like hearing you say that." A faint smile crept on the Prince's face his blue eyes lighting up. "Trowa, you have been with me for so long I don't know what I'd do if you left me." he said after sometime. "Promise you won't leave me?"   
  
"What caused your tears?" he asked evading the question.  
  
"I dreamt that you left me and I couldn't bear it!" he buried his head in Trowa's shoulder but the other just looked at him. "You are mine forever right? You are my friend and would never leave me right? Promise me."  
  
Trowa sighed, he had been with the Prince for close to a hundred years now and yet he could not understand the cause of his frailty. "I promise." He whispered finally.  
  
The Prince fell asleep in Trowa's arms his deft hands stroking his blonde hair. He looked at the boy he held in his arms. Prince Quatre was from the dragon clan; he had dragon blood in him that was why this seemingly seventeen year-old boy was actually four hundred years old. He was but a boy compared to Trowa who was three hundred years older but he still could not understand how a boy so fragile could be the ruthless monarch he truly was. He murdered his own father in order to succeed the throne and he committed genocide to make the remaining two or three he decided to add to his collection even more rare.  
  
Trowa was not part of a dying race, and their failure to save him stemmed from them not knowing of his capture. The bracelets he wore on his wrists prevented him from using his own magic and calling for his brethren. He would disappear for centuries before anyone ever saw him again, his salvation rested on only one and even he was not sure if the other had survived.   
  
Prince Quatre stirred in his sleep and Trowa was brought out of his reverie. This was the boy that killed so many on a whim, who had murdered his own blood, who had wept in his arms countless of times, who had made love to him when he felt alone. He was also his captor and Prince Quatre's love for him was his prison.  
  
***  
  
Heero heard the other one enter the room a couple of hours later. He looked tired. He knew the elf was a favorite too. He had been in that harem for most of his life and the only thing that kept him alive was his looks and his heritage. For he was only half human and his demon blood kept him eternally young, but not immortal. Sure he would die his human mother promised him that. But he would live to see another hundred years and if he was lucky perhaps two.   
  
His days were spent trying to keep the Dragon Prince happy. Prince Quatre held his life in the palm of his hand and he could not escape the feeling that he would die in that harem. Amid the barely clad bodies and the scent of incense.  
  
He stared at his hands, escape had crossed his mind but he had nothing to return to now. The Dragon Prince made sure of that. He would rather not face the reality that he was alone now and that everything he held dear was gone. This illusion of having something to live for kept him where he was.   
  
What was the use of freedom to a man whose life meant nothing to him?  
  
He heard the other's soft breathing and knew he was asleep. Tomorrow it would be the same, perhaps it would be the elf, perhaps him, perhaps one of the others…perhaps tomorrow he would die and his misery would end. Perhaps.  
  
  
***  
  
A soft hum woke him up from his sleep. His blue eyes adjusted to what little light there was and he saw the silhouette moving towards him.   
  
"Trowa?" it whispered.  
  
"No." he answered the soft voice.   
  
"Duo?" he heard the elf stand up. "Is that you?"  
  
"Trowa!" the figure turned around and revealed great wings.  
  
An angel! Heero looked at the back now turned to him and he found that he could not erase the angel's beautiful face from his mind.  
  
"We don't have much time, I have not fully awakened yet!" it whispered to the elf.  
  
"Let us leave then." Trowa muttered. He held out his wrists to the angel who traced strange symbols on the bracelets with his long fingernails. He muttered an incantation and blue light emanated from the symbols before the bracelets opened and dropped to the floor.   
  
"What of the boy?" Duo asked looking back at Heero. Trowa shrugged.   
  
"I offer you freedom child, but freedom in a different sense." He came closer to him. "If you take my hand now you are eternally bound to me until the day you die. Mortals must pay a price for a service given to them by my kind." He stared at his violet eyes.   
  
"It is your choice." He looked at Trowa who stared impassively at him.   
  
"I am sick of this place." Was all he said and he stood up. He has a beautiful voice Trowa noted.   
  
Duo traced a circle on the floor and muttered another incantation. As the blue light began to shine he motioned for Heero to join them inside the cylinder of light. In a blinding moment their cell melted away and they found themselves in a different place.   
  
"Let us leave." Duo whispered.  
  
They turned to go but Trowa stood rooted in his place, his face turned to the midnight sky. Duo approached him.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
"It has been a hundred years since I saw the twin moons, let me greet them for a moment." He said. Duo came closer to the taller boy and wrapped his arms around the elf's waist. Trowa tore his eyes from the sky and smiled at Duo before wrapping him in his arms and kissing him gently. They broke apart and turned their faces back up towards the full moons once more.  
  
And in the shadows blue eyes looked on, never leaving the face of the angel in the elf's arms.  
  
***  
  
"NOOOO!" Prince Quatre wailed as he saw the burnt circle in Trowa's cell. "He promised me! He promised me!" he broke down crying.  
  
  
"I smell angel magic." A voice said as the Dragon Prince looked up. It was Wufei his mage.   
  
"It seems Duo has wakened from his sleep, I never thought the angel would survive." The Prince said wiping his eyes.   
  
"He is still weak."   
  
"I know. There is only one place they can go to regain their powers. And we will hunt them down." He said as something in his eyes flickered.  
  
"But your highness, it would not do that you leave the palace. Let me choose someone to accompany me instead."  
  
"Oh no Wufei, this hunt deserves the best hunters we have. And this time its personal." He said his eyes narrowing. "Before the new moons arise I will have Trowa back and I will have an angel's heart beating in my hands."  
  
***  
  
  
  



	2. Before the Sun Arises

characters aren't mine appreciate comments   
//-thoughts  
  
  
  
Part two:  
  
Before the sun arises.  
  
***  
  
He couldn't move. He was cold, he wanted to wrap his arms around himself but he couldn't feel them. He could see his breath steaming in front of him. His eyes could see the one he loved in the arms of someone else and he wanted to close them. But he couldn't. His eyes filled with tears as he saw his lover being taken by another and he wanted to close them. But he couldn't.  
  
/Oh god no! I can't be back here. Please. Not here not this place!/  
  
/Please!/  
  
/Please!/  
  
/Please!/   
  
***  
  
"Oh god!" he cried sitting up a river of sweat scaling his body. /It was a dream...a dream./   
  
"You were having a bad dream." He looked in the direction of Heero's voice and saw him putting wood into the fire.  
  
"I was..." he stopped and Heero looked up at him. "...having a bad dream." He muttered as if he needed to convince himself.  
  
"Here." He said throwing him the makeshift flask they made. Duo took a mouthful of water and swallowed slowly. He was still trying to get his heart to beat back to normal attempting to hold on to the handful of images quickly melting away into forgetfulness.   
  
"Are you alright?" he asked. He knew it was uncalled for and he probably shouldn't of had asked but the guilt he felt at not waking him earlier gnawed at his stomach. The truth was that he was mesmerized by the angel's beautiful face contorted in distress and he couldn't bring himself to touch the beautiful body writhing in pain beside him.  
  
"I... where is Trowa?" he asked finding his voice.  
  
"He left a while ago." He answered his attention back to the fire he pretended to tend.  
  
"I was back there..." he muttered. "Back in that hell." Heero looked at the stunned angel. His wings drooped, his fingers touching his lips, his eyes staring into nothing in particular. The only thing holding his attention to what the angel was saying was the thought that he was troubled by something.  
  
  
"In that icy tomb where the world passed me by." He finished. Heero wanted to say something but he was cut off by the appearance of Trowa.   
  
"Duo?" he rushed over to the angel's side wrapping his arms around him.  
  
"Trowa?" Duo whispered waking from his trance.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"Where did you go?"  
  
"Nowhere."  
  
"I dreamt of that place..."   
  
"It's ok." He whispered stroking Duo's long auburn hair. "It's alright you won't ever go back to that place, I promise." He cupped Duo's face and wiped his tears with his thumbs. Duo smiled and buried his face in his shoulder.   
  
"You don't have to be so dramatic about it." Duo laughed. His laugh was strained, as if he was forcing it.  
  
What did he do to you Duo?   
  
"An angel is a weird creature you know. Once he feels something he never forgets. It's embedded in his heart and he carries it till the end of forever." He said fingering the fabric of Trowa's shirt. They stayed like that for a long time.  
  
"So half-breed, what is your heritage?" he finally said looking at Heero, his forehead never leaving Trowa's shoulder. Heero looked at him. "Oh I smelled you the moment we left that retarded spaharemchapel." He winked.  
  
  
"I am half-human and half-demon." He said his expression not changing.  
  
"But you are not immortal?" Duo continued his interrogation.  
  
"No."  
  
"Did your demon-half bequeath you any skill?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Some slave you are!" he stuck his tongue out at the boy. Heero looked at him stunned, that little response seemed disrespectful for one so divine.  
  
"Who was your father?"  
  
"The Eater of Lives."  
  
"Noin!?"  
  
"You know my father?"  
  
"Yeah, it was my lover two ages ago. Personally I like Noin better if it's a she. It never stays one gender for long though." Duo chuckled.  
  
"Your mother must have been some woman to have Noin sire a child with her."  
  
"She was." His mind drifted to his old home, his mother never truly got over his father leaving her. He remembers the night it left them, his mother was begging it not to leave but it had already made up it's mind.  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
"Dorothy understand that you will never make me happy, our time is over." It, actually she spoke, for his father had taken on a female's form.  
  
"Please, I will do anything for you, please don't leave me!" she was on her knees, begging his father not to leave. Heero was only three years old then but he remembered the way his father looked at her, its eyes seemed like they were considering staying with her. It picked her up, drew her into its arms and led her into their room.  
  
They made love.  
  
He was woken up by his father that night, its beautiful female face staring into his own. "Heero, I am leaving now."  
  
"But you and mama made up didn't you?" it looked at him sadly.   
  
"Your mama could never make me happy. Take care of her my son."  
  
"No you take care of her!"   
  
"Papa!" he called to it, "Papa!" but all it did was walk away. His mother stood beside him as he watched his father disappear on the horizon, and she fell to her knees.  
  
Her once beautiful blonde hair turned white and she rarely spoke. The only times that she actually smiled was when it came to visit. Sometimes the demon would be in male form, sometimes female and it would always come late in the night and leave before the sun rises. And they would make love as if the world did not exist.   
  
In that handful of nights shared with his mother, he learned of his father and he never forgot how his mother looked when she was in its arms. And he swore he would never fall in love.   
  
***  
  
"Of course you know it did love your mother, as much as it knew how to." He looked up at the angel in Trowa's arms breaking his nostalgia.  
  
"You are the only offspring of Noin's that I know of." Trowa answered. "You should be proud."   
  
Heero just looked at the fire, remembering how even as her mother was murdered all she could say was that finally she would always be with the one that she truly loved. His father truly was the Eater of Lives; it devoured his mother, her heart, her body, her soul. And he promised himself once more that he would never fall in love.   
  
***  
  
Prince Quatre looked at his queen. Her brown hair reminded him of Trowa. She stirred in her sleep as he began to run his fingers through her hair.  
  
"Trowa..." he whispered. Her eyes fluttered open and as her eyes set upon her king she suddenly stiffened and sat up.  
  
"My lord!" she started.  
  
"Hush Catherine, let me see your face." He coaxed.  
  
"Have you a need for anything sire?" he shook his head. "Do you want me too..."  
  
"I said be quiet!" he ordered irritably. She lay there her fear giving her the passivity he required of her.   
  
Catherine was his niece, sired by Trowa. Prince Quatre picked his most beautiful sister and commanded Trowa to impregnate her. When a niece was finally born, he put his sister to death in his jealousy along with her other sons which he had no use for. And when she had first reddened her dresses, he married her.  
  
She was a poor substitute for the boy whose only flaw was that he would never produce an heir. His obsession with Trowa began the moment he saw Duo's wings.  
  
***  
  
He was out hunting with Wufei. The sun was smiling on him that day and the sky was clearer than he had ever seen. And into that endless blue the angel soared.  
  
His beautiful wings caught his eye first and as he looked at him with his dragon's eyes, peering through miles of sky and forest, he saw that the angel was beautiful as well. He smiled at Wufei as he took his aim.   
  
  
  
Duo was lost in the exhilaration of being in love. Trowa would come back that day and it was the first time in the two hundred years that they were together that they had actually been separated for longer than a day. He took the sky's invitation and he forgot the world and just reveled in the moment of being alive.   
  
It was here that the arrow had found its mark. His wing paralyzed with the poison. He remembers crashing.   
  
  
  
Prince Quatre laughed as he dove; spiraling into the forest beneath, he and Wufei raced to get to the fallen angel first. Of course the Prince got there first and surveyed his trophy. He grabbed his hair and lifted his head to look at his face.  
  
"Hmmm, oh don't pass out on me now! A little dragon blood and you're out cold? Pathetic." Duo unsheathed his dagger and took a swing at the Prince's chest, which he evaded effortlessly. "Spunk! I like that! Tie him down."   
  
Duo couldn't fight the poison anymore and he succumbed to the rough hands that bound his wings. But before the poison plunged him into darkness he took one last swing at the blond prince, his enchanted blade drawing dragon's blood from his cheek. The Prince shrieked and held his bleeding cheek with one hand as he held his sword with the other.  
  
"You may be immortal angel but you are not immune to pain!" he was about to stab the Duo in the chest when Trowa came and seized the angel away from Wufei.  
  
"What is the meaning of this elf?" he fumed but as Trowa stood up his green eyes mad with anger, the Prince's breath caught and he fell.  
  
"You have no right to hurt someone as beautiful as he." He gritted through ground teeth. And that was when the Dragon Prince vowed that he would make the elf see him as more beautiful than the angel he now held.  
  
"Oh and who pray tell decides what could and could not be touched?" Wufei growled.  
  
"Not this one." Trowa stared at Wufei, defiance in his voice. "Leave dragon blood, you are not welcome here." He picked up Duo in his arms and turned his back on them. "Leave before I decide to never let you leave these woods alive." And he disappeared.  
  
"Did you poison him?" he asked his mage.  
  
"Of course."  
  
  
  
  
  
Trowa wrapped Duo's wounded wing and watched as his lover fought the dragon blood coursing in his veins. He held his hand and prepared to stay the night in the woods lest he worsen the bleeding by moving him when Duo spoke.  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Are they gone?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"God, it hurt." He said sitting up; Trowa tried to hold him down. "No I'll be alright, the wound is beginning to heal but I can still feel the poison. His blood was different, it was strong, unlike any I have come across."  
  
"I know, I smelled it."  
  
"It was his wasn't it? He was using his own blood to kill his prey?" he looked into Trowa's eyes as the elf nodded. "I want to go home."  
  
"Ok love, ok." He said helping Duo on his feet when he suddenly collapsed. He was paralyzed.  
  
"Trowa?" all he could do was look into those violet eyes silently questioning him. "Trowa!" he screamed holding the suddenly boneless elf.  
  
/He got me... I was too worried about Duo to notice! Oh god Duo! Go Duo run away now!/  
  
"Well, looks like he has not yet decided to never let us leave these woods alive." Wufei smirked melting from the shadows. Duo began to draw symbols in the air.  
  
"Oh no angel, you die." The Prince smiled, placing his hand on the small of Duo's back. "Stay in your tomb and let the ice eat your life away." He muttered. And Duo stood frozen, a swirl of mist gathering about him, his world fading to gray. His eyes found Trowa's green ones one last time before the frost drained all of the colors from his eyes. He saw the bracelets put on his wrists and he knew that Trowa could no longer see him.  
  
***  
  
The Prince had fallen asleep beside her and Catherine stood up and watched her husband. A shiver ran up her spine.  
  
She feared him.  
  
She hated him.  
  
She moved to the window, looking over the kingdom before her. Her hands closed around her unborn child, this would be their sixth.  
  
"Wherever you are father, never come back." She whispered.  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
  
  
notes: i actually have a side story about the love story of noin and dorothy,maybe i'll post it when the whole series is already posted   
  
  
  



	3. an angel's tears

Characters aren't mine appreciate comments though   
//-thoughts  
  
  
  
Part 3:   
An Angel's Tears  
  
  
***  
  
Wufei dreamed of a boy with blue eyes that night, blue eyes that reminded him of another. His brown hair smelling like all the others. But this half-demon boy tasted different and this was why he kept calling for him whenever the Prince was busy with his elf. This boy made him feel like the secrets that were eating him within were taken from his shoulders for the brief moments that he shared with the boy.  
  
That boy was his and he would do everything in his power to find him, for the boy knew something he should not. A secret only uttered once from his lips.  
  
The boy had driven him to the edge and he called his name that he wanted most. His lord.  
  
He was forbidden to love the Prince, and in his weakness he had fallen for the one he must protect. The mage must never touch his liege that was the way it was. Their bond would be broken the moment their skin touched and he would be forever damned. And yet he longed to hold those little hands that he had seen kill so many.  
  
The concubine became the prince, his brown hair bleached to yellow, his skin whitening and his eyes containing the color of the summer sky. He pulled the boy towards him and he devoured his lips with a need fueled by four hundred years of longing.  
  
He sat up, his mind reeling from the dream he just had. His body aching and his shame burning his skin.  
  
This was his secret. This was his ruin. He must find that boy and claim him once more or destroy him; these were his only option.  
  
***  
  
"We will reach Langit in a couple of days time, until then we must stay hidden, I too am not strong enough to fight the Dragon Prince nor his mage." Trowa said feeling the soil in his palm. "They have set out to find us. Only the two of them. We will have to outrun them. They are hunters and we do not have the strength to mask our tracks."  
  
"Tell me of the harem." Duo said quietly although they were alone. He was silent for a long time his hand still feeling the soil that had ceased telling him things moments ago.  
  
"What do you wish to know?"  
  
"Did you..." Duo searched his eyes and Trowa silently begged him not to ask. The angel broke into a smile. He took his hand in his and placed his head on his shoulder.   
  
/I won't ask Trowa, if you don't want me to. But I beg you tell me before it is too late./  
  
***  
  
  
"They are close, perhaps half a day away." The Prince said seeing the broken branches on one of the bushes. "They are fast."  
  
"Hmmm. They do have the half-demon boy with them. Trowa has regained some of his power but they won't be able to hold their own against us." Wufei said looking at the sky.   
  
"Let us give them the day. The chase won't be fun if it ended so soon." Prince Quatre smiled.  
  
***  
  
He was tired but they couldn't stop now, if they did it could mean the end for all of them. They needed to reach angel country before the Prince caught up with them. Duo needed to regain his powers, he was too weak and he was afraid that the angel might be in real danger. The talk of what to do after could always wait.  
  
"Hey Trowa, I never got around to asking his name. What is it?" Duo asked motioning towards the boy behind them.  
  
"I don't know." He answered drawing a branch away for Duo, who stared at him incredulously.  
  
"I thought you were together for a year?"  
  
"We were."  
  
"And you never once asked his name?" Trowa looked at Duo. The angel broke into laughter. "Truly Trowa! I don't know why I stick with a grumpy old man like you!"  
  
"Old man? Duo you are a thousand years old!" Trowa smiled.  
  
"Yeah but I don't act like it meanie!" Duo stuck his tongue out at the elf and pulled at the skin beneath his eye. He laughed once more before bounding off towards the demon-boy. Trowa smiled. It was the first time he had ever heard Duo simply laugh since they were reunited. There was always a touch of sadness in it as if he was masking something and now there was nothing, that was all it was. He just laughed.  
  
"Hey I never caught your name." He smiled at the boy. "And mister I'm-too-good-to-speak-to-my-cellmate-for-one-whole-freaking-year didn't either."  
  
"It is Heero and we have never spoken to each other in our time together so it really doesn't matter." He said looking at the angel.  
  
"True the first time I had ever heard his voice was when he answered you." Duo's eyes nearly popped out.  
  
"Geez, talk about anti-social. At least you had someone to be with..."he said as Trowa began to walk again. "I was all alone for so long." He whispered although Heero heard him. Duo realized he had heard and made up for it, plastering a smile on his face. "Solitude does things to you." he smiled sadly and ran up towards the elf. Heero just stared at him.  
  
"You know what?" he whispered coming close to Trowa.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The world looks different in gray." He smiled.   
  
/You have changed so much it seems. That century we were apart, what did he do to you? How could he take away your laugh and I know the colors still have not returned to your eyes. You saw something in that lifetime didn't you, something that has caused you to change? And I know it's killing you./  
  
Trowa looked at the angel, and wondered how much they both have changed. He took his hand and smiled at Duo as they walked on.   
  
Heero saw the clasped hands and his jealousy drove him insane. He wanted the angel for himself, they had been together for almost a month now and he hated the way they showed affection for each other. He could not for the life of him understand why Duo loved Trowa so much, he was boring, doesn't talk much and seemed to find nothing in the world worthwhile, so contrasting to the angel and so much like himself. Why couldn't Duo love him instead?  
  
***  
  
"Damn they are fast!" Wufei spat.  
  
"Faster than I gave them credit for. We have to move now, tomorrow the new moons arise." Prince Quatre said. "I will not allow him to regain his powers."   
  
***  
  
He looked at Duo's sleeping form. His wings wrapped around them as he held him. He wanted to kiss him and claim him once more. Those endless nights when he dreamed of his violet-eyed angel always ended in this position somehow. The smell of Duo's hair, his wings and the night around them, it was always the same. Was he still dreaming?   
  
Duo refused to make love to him, saying that he wanted to be able to see his green eyes when they made love, he didn't want to give himself to Trowa unless he was himself once more. Until he was completed again. He closed his eyes and memorized every detail he could, if this was a dream, then he would take everything he can from it before he wakes up behind the jade doors once again.   
  
***  
  
They had finally reached angel country. Duo had all but wept when he saw his land, never had he failed to see the beautiful sunrises here. All he saw now was a gray blur lighting up everything.  
  
The skies were filled with angels circling around the castle, they were singing, greeting the sun as it made its entrance. On the tower two figures stood watching, as they both noticed the party approaching the castle, one of them let out a cry and suddenly flew out of the window to the three boys gathered beneath it.  
  
Their Queen greeted them, seeing Duo she wept.  
  
"Oh my child! What has happened to you?"  
  
"Mother..." He fell into her arms as she showered his face with kisses.   
  
"They will kill you Duo." His father stated as he joined them.   
  
"No Treize, I will not let them take him away from me again!" the Queen warned gathering Duo in her arms.  
  
"I should have known it was you elf. I knew you would bring ruin to my son." King Treize looked down at the boy; his height of seven feet made the six-foot boy suddenly feel small.   
  
"Father!" Duo was shocked to hear him say it.  
  
"Did you not think I knew where you were this past century?" King Teize's eyes were cold. "I saw you frozen in that tomb and did you know why I did not save you? For you to learn that it will never suit a crowned Prince to disobey his father for a common elf!"  
  
"I am no common elf! I come from the Clan of Morning Bearers!"  
  
"An aristocratic elf is an elf nonetheless. Your blood is not suited for us."  
  
"Treize!" the Queen began as Duo released himself from her hold.  
  
"I refused the crown before and I refuse it now. Why is it so hard for you to accept that I will never be King?" he demanded. "You have sixteen other sons and twelve other daughters all of them wanting the crown! Why must I be the one?"  
  
"Because I chose you."   
  
"Does it not matter what I wish?"  
  
"No." Duo's wings sagged in defeat, he suddenly remembered why it took him three hundred years to return.  
  
"What kind of father would force his son to become something he does not wish to be?" Trowa asked stepping in between Duo and his father; he had seen this scene play too many times.   
  
"The kind of father that refuses to believe that he has a son selfish enough not to care for his people."   
  
"I will never be the king you want me to be. My heart is not in ruling Langit!"   
  
"What do you wish in exchange for my son's heart elf? How much will it take for you to release my son from the enchantment you put him under?" he asked turning to Trowa.  
  
"If it means that he would follow what you wish of him, then his ransom o king is far more than you can afford." He answered his green eyes narrowing.  
  
"Leave." It was an order.  
  
"Duo!" the Queen called after her son.  
  
"Sally..."  
  
"Cease your words Treize! He is my joy and don't you dare take that from me again!" she turned from him angrily. Treize's shoulders sank; he too loved his difficult son. He foretold what would happen and he did everything in his power to prevent it. But fate can never be altered and now he knew he would truly lose his son.   
  
***  
  
Duo stayed in his mother's arms a little longer, soaking her breast with his tears.  
  
"I love you mother. I never wanted to cause you grief."  
  
"I know Duo-bear, I know." he smiled at his mother's pet name for him. "Your father can be a hard man but he loves you as much as I do."  
  
"Why can't he accept that I will never be king?"  
  
"He has his reasons." She too, knew what fate awaited her son, and she never wanted to let him go. "Would you never reconsider?" one last try.  
  
"No." a silence fell between them  
  
"I love you Duo."  
  
"I love you too mother." She hugged him once more planting a kiss on his lips as she used to when he was a child. Duo turned to go before his tears began once more. "Farewell."  
  
"Farewell my Duo-bear." She smiled her own tears fell like the rain as she watched him walk away from her.  
  
"Trowa." She called as the elf neared her. "If I told you that Duo would die if the both of you left Langit, would you leave him behind?" Trowa nodded. The Queen smiled. "Take care of my son Trowa." She begged him as she turned to leave.  
  
***  
  
Duo's body glistened in the evening sky; there was no moon tonight and he needed the moons to be blind as he is reborn.   
  
He removed his clothing and began to walk into the middle of the silver pool. His body shivering in the cold night air. Two pairs of eyes followed his flawless body, each suddenly needing a dip in the icy water as well. He spread his wings and entered the waterfall his wounds melted away and his body emanated a blue light, accentuating his curves even more. His beautiful face seemed to become even more beautiful as his soul was healed by the silver water.   
  
And he opened his eyes.  
  
"Trowa!" he held out his hand to him and the elf left everything behind not pausing to remove his clothes, he met Duo in the middle of the pool enfolding him in his arms and looking into his violet eyes. "I remember your eyes being much greener." He smiled before turning his face up to kiss his lover.  
  
Heero turned away.  
  
  
"Isn't this touching?" Wufei's voice separated them.  
  
"Trowa..." Prince Quatre muttered his voice dripping with hatred. Trowa turned to shield Duo from the two dragons.  
  
"You belong to me beloved," the Prince said in his sweet voice. "Do I need to remind you of that?"   
  
"Leave us alone you mad sexually perverse weirdo!" Duo shouted behind him. Trowa wanted to laugh but he caught himself.   
  
"Trowa? Must I take you away from him once more?" Trowa looked at the boy behind him.  
  
"If I came back with you would you promise never to harm Duo?"  
  
"Trowa?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Swear that to me Prince or else I would take my own life here and now before your eyes."  
  
"I swear on the head of everything I hold dear."   
  
"And your dog as well."  
  
"I swear on my honor." Wufei ground out. If it wasn't for the look on the Dragon Prince's face he wouldn't even spit on the elf's demand.  
  
"Trowa!" Duo pulled him around to face him.  
  
"Give us a moment." He called over his shoulder to the three other people present.  
  
"Come with me now boy." Wufei called out to Heero.   
  
"The boy is bound to me dragon mage, touch him and you will die." Duo called, as his eyes burned blue. Wufei swallowed hard, he was not about to go against a newly born angel, no matter what secret the boy held.  
  
"Trowa?" Duo asked when they were left alone, his eyes had returned to violet and his confusion and hurt clearly showed.  
  
"It is better this way Duo."  
  
"But we can face him together. I have regained my powers fully and my father would not deny his son an army to fight for his life, no matter how heartless he seems." He said tugging at Trowa's collar. "Remember we said that we can face anything so long as we are together."   
  
"People change Duo." Was all he said, Duo looked at him in disbelief. "Let us revel in our last moment together love." He said as he claimed his lips.  
  
And in the light of the silent stars, in ones desperation and the other's despair, they made love.  
  
***  
  
He had been lying like that for hours now. Heero thought. He looked at the angel sprawled on the ground beside him, he had started a fire so that Duo would not get cold.   
  
He was lying on his stomach, his wings partially covering his naked body. His face was turned to the side staring into the silver pool with blank eyes. The dragons had taken Trowa with them when they left and he found Duo like this. He did not heed his calls and he refused to move.  
  
And Heero let him stay like that, watching over him, troubled and satisfied at the same time.  
  
  
  
Duo looked at the stars, his face empty. In his heart another pain embedded itself.   
  
/I will kill you o Dragon Prince, even if it takes me forever./  
  
***  
  
notes: langit means heaven in Filipino  
  
  
  
  



	4. Her Ocean

Characters are not mine, appreciate comments though  
//-thoughts  
  
  
  
  
Part four:  
Her Ocean  
  
***  
"Tell me again why you must leave Duo?" she asked him as they stood on the balcony.  
  
"I will never be happy here." He whispered looking at her. "This is not the life I want to live."  
  
"It is him, isn't it? He has turned you away from us. From me!" she cried hitting his chest with her fist. "Duo you idiot! Do you not love me anymore?" she asked her brother.  
  
"I do Relena, I still do."  
  
"Then why don't you want to stay and rule with me?"  
  
"My heart does not lie here."  
  
"It lies with him. Damn Trowa, I rue the day we ever saw him." she huffed in her frustration. She heard Duo laugh.   
  
"Take care my sister, rule well." He called as he took flight.  
  
"Not if you are not my King." She whispered as she saw him land next to the elf. They looked up at her and waved, Duo's smile radiant. "Not if you are not my King."  
  
***  
She thought she saw him, and by the look on the King and Queen's faces, she knew she did.  
  
"Where is he?" she asked. Her mother just shook her head. Just then a guard came to the King; he paled and looked at the direction of the door.  
  
The boy held Duo in his arms, his naked body covered only by his own wings.   
  
"Duo!" Relena cried as she rushed to the boy. "What happened to him?"  
  
"Make him better." Was all the boy said.  
  
She looked at Duo's sleeping form then her eyes shifted to the handsome boy that had never left Duo's side since he came here.   
  
It had been three hundred years since she last saw him and her heart ached at his broken state. /Oh Duo, why couldn't you have just stayed with me?/  
  
"Where is Trowa?" she asked the boy.  
  
"He left us." He answered not looking at the other angel.  
  
/Damn him; damn Trowa and his elfin kin!/  
  
***  
  
She was out by the sea, up to her knees in salt water her face upturned to the setting sun. In her hands she had a conch shell a present for her brother. She wished he could be here with her, but ever since Duo reached his five hundredth year, they began to groom him for succeeding their father and she missed him terribly.   
  
She sighed she would turn two hundred soon and she was already proclaimed the next queen. She hated being crowned she couldn't bear it! If it wasn't for her brother and future husband she didn't know what she would do.  
  
She heard a whistling sound and came face to face with her brother before he drowned them both in the shallow water.  
  
"Ahhhh Duo!" she screamed getting up.   
  
"Hahaha well hello little sister I'm glad to see you too." He winked.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be with your consuls?" she asked wringing her hair free from the salt water. She never could stay mad at Duo for long.  
  
"I got tired of those old buzzards. So I left them. You think after a hundred years with me they would loosen up, but oh no! I am six hundred years old for crying out loud and they treat me like this child."  
  
"Well if you didn't act like a child then maybe..."  
  
"May I remind you that I am four hundred years older than you are!" she stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"Hey look I got you this." She handed him the shell.  
  
"Oh wow the ocean in my hands!" he laughed putting it against his ear, "this could come in handy when father begins his sermons once more." He put the shell in his belt and began to spray his sister with water.  
  
"Duo!"  
  
"Crowned Prince Duo?" a small voice whispered.  
  
"Well hello Milliardo." He smiled as the little demon approached. It form was that of a three-year-old child and its blond hair was golden in the sunlight.   
  
"Uhm, consul asked me to get you." it said.   
  
/Aww isn't it cute./  
  
"Did that stupid consul make you do his work again?" Milliardo just looked at him. He smiled, the embryonic demon was a gift from Noin. Barely twenty and just downright adorable. "Have you ever been in the sea Milliardo?" the demon shook its head.  
  
"Come here then!" Relena urged it. The little demon hovered closer to the water its whole body like a chibi bishounen with dragon's wings.  
  
All three of them were already soaked before half the sun had disappeared on the horizon. His wings were spread and he lay on the water letting the waves cradle him. His sister sat on the water, the demon sitting on her crossed legs.   
  
"When we become King and Queen remind me to have a whole ocean created for us." He said his eyes closed.  
  
"As you wish brother."  
  
"Elf army." Milliardo chirped as horses came stampeding toward them from the shore.  
  
Both angels took flight, their wet wings making their launch awkward. And as they began to leave his eyes were caught by a tall elf with brown hair and green eyes. His horse proclaimed him to be of the Clan of the Morning Bearers, the ruling clan of the elves.  
  
When they reached the palace they were promptly reprimanded and then sent to get dressed for they had company. His hair was being brushed by the demon and his mind drifted to the shore that afternoon.  
  
"Crown Prince Duo not himself." Milliardo said in its child voice.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry Milliardo, yes I am not myself today."  
  
"Because of tall elf?"  
  
"Haha oh you sly devil! Trying to catch me huh?" he smirked as he grabbed the demon and began to tickle it.  
  
"Duo, we are being called now." Relena called him from the outside.  
  
"Come on Milliardo you are coming with me" He said grasping the gold chan wrapped around the demon's ankle. It flew before him like an exquisite balloon.  
  
They entered the throne room his mind preoccupied by the little demon he was still tickling. He did not see the elfin King and his two children. He did not see green eyes capture his face.  
  
"These are my chosen children. Duo and Relena." He heard his father's voice and the added edge did not escape him either, telling him to stop playing with his demon. He bowed before the visitors and Relena curtsied, when he lifted his eyes they were met with intense green ones.  
  
"This is my good friend King Rashid of the Morning Bearers and his two children, Trowa and Une." He was no longer listening for the tall elf had captured him.  
  
He was sitting on the balcony's railing, looking up at the stars. Relena was sitting at the table with Trowa while Une played with Milliardo in one side.  
  
"So Trowa, you will succeed you father?" Relena asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"But I thought you were the eldest?"  
  
"I am."  
  
"So who will rule?"  
  
"Une."  
  
"Why not you?"  
  
"I do not wish to."  
  
Duo whistled. "If it was only that simple eh Relena?" he smiled looking at the two.  
  
"You do no wish to rule either?" he asked turning to the beautiful angel perched on the railing.  
  
"Nah, I'd rather just be a good-for-nothing!" he winked at him.  
  
"What my Brother meant was that he would rather be free." Relena corrected him. "Don't say a good-for-nothing! He will think that our next King is an idiot!"   
  
"Why would I think that?" Trowa asked. "Freedom is a great gift."  
  
"You should thank your father for it." Duo smiled.  
  
"I do. Everyday that I roam the earth of my own accord I do."  
  
"I wish I could go with you."  
  
"Why don't you?" Relena looked at her brother and the tall elf and suddenly she felt like her whole world had turned   
upside down.  
  
***  
The Elven Kingdom and the Angelic Empire used to be comrades at arms and her father used to be friends with King Rashid. It all ended when three hundred years ago her brother turned his back on the throne and left with Elven Kind's first born.  
  
And now here he was once more. In her arms. This time she wouldn't let him leave.  
  
***  
  
"Trowa, are you happy?" The blond prince asked his head resting on his lover's chest.  
  
"Of course I am." He said monotonously.  
  
"You are still thinking of the angel aren't you?"  
  
/Yes./  
  
"No."  
  
"It does not matter, I will make you forget him." He whispered and something in his voice told Trowa he would.  
  
***  
He had sent a message to Queen Une, telling her of her brother's predicament. And she said she would go to war if needed.   
  
But he wanted to see the Dragon Prince die by his own hands.  
  
He sat looking out of the windows when Relena entered bringing his supper. He looked at her and smiled.  
  
"You are too good to me sister."  
  
"You are too hard on yourself. Eat."  
  
"Where is Heero?"  
  
"Out in the garden."  
  
"Ah maybe I should do that."  
  
"Eat first."  
  
"Yes general!" he mock saluted her and sat down on his dinning table.  
  
***  
The cold evening air felt good on his face. He had been watching Duo for five years now never leaving his side. Today he was bullied by his little sister to go out and explore the kingdom.   
  
He just couldn't take it anymore. He was in love with the angel whose heart was broken and he hated seeing him slowly wilt away because of someone else. He laughed to himself, if Duo knew how many people secretly yearned for his affection, would he still reach for that one touch. Relena loved him, he loved him, Milliardo loved him. The list goes on and on but somehow he knew that Duo never wanted all the others, all the love he ever wanted was from an elfin boy with beautiful green eyes.  
  
"You know you can't see the beauty of our world from the ground." He heard his voice. Before he could reply Duo had hooked his hands under Heero's armpits and flew up into the night sky.  
  
  
They were sitting on the ledge surveying the grandeur of the city beneath them. His proximity to the object of his desires and the solitude of the place they were on made Heero uncomfortable.  
  
"This was where I used to go when I was a child." He smiled. "Beautiful isn't it?"  
  
"Yes." But he wasn't looking at the city beneath him.  
  
"I don't know what I am doing here." He sighed. "My father pretends I do not exist, my sister and mother suffocate me and you follow me around like some shadow. Not to mention the entire kingdom asking when the coronation will be held. God I need to get away."  
  
"I am bound to you. I will always keep you safe." He said almost mechanically.  
  
"Haha, tell me Heero, can you save me from myself?" he asked.  
  
"You are leaving aren't you." he stated.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"When do we leave?"  
  
"When I have coaxed Milliardo to take us to hell baby!" he laughed taking Heero and heading back to the castle.  
  
***  
"No." Milliardo was no longer the little demon child he left behind. It was all grown up and it was beautiful. It wore its hair long and its wings curved delicately revealing slim shoulders.   
  
"Awww c'mon!" Duo whined.  
  
"Crowned Prince Duo, you should know that what you are attempting is suicide." He winced at the name.  
  
"You know you are the only one that calls me that now." he said somewhat longingly. "And do you think sitting here doing nothing is not suicide to me?"  
  
Milliardo looked at the boy before it. When Duo left it was only a pupa of a demon, looking just twelve years old. Now it was taller than its master.   
  
/I was but a child-demon when I fell in love with you, barely two hundred years old when you left me behind for that elf. And now here you are again before me, smaller than I remembered but every bit as beautiful./  
  
  
"Please?" it looked at its master's eyes. It could just say no and foil all of Duo's plans, imprisoning him in their kingdom. Milliardo shook its head that would never work. If it said no Duo would find another to take him there and no matter how great its power was, it would never be able to keep its master where he did not want to be. He sighed.  
  
"Crowned Prince, do you realize the consequences of what you are about to do?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"Can you not walk away from this?" Duo shook his head sadly. The demon just looked away.  
  
"Aahh I love you Milliardo!" he jumped up and down and planted a kiss on the taller demon's cheek before bouncing out of the room to find Heero.  
  
Milliardo lifted his palm to where Duo's lips had touched. /Much misery will come of this, but it is the path he has chosen and I follow him to the ends of the earth if I have to. /  
  
***  
  
"We leave tomorrow at sunset Heero." He said greeting his companion.  
Heero looked up from the scrolls he was reading. "To hell?"  
  
"Yes." Duo looked at him.  
  
"Duo, this is ludicrous. You have a kingdom to rule, let the sleeping dragons lie where they are happy."   
  
"I have a heart to get back." His own shattered. When they had began to sleep with each other he had built this hope   
that perhaps Duo would take him into his heart and forget the elf. In vain he tried to persuade the angel to let things be and just live out the life he still had. With him.  
That was all it was, a hope.   
  
"A dragon prince is a formidable foe." He said his pain choking him inside.  
  
"So is an angel's first born."  
  
"One of you will loose here, and I cannot shake the feeling it will be you."  
  
"If that is what you see then that is your truth not mine." A silence prevailed.  
  
"You are stubborn Duo."  
  
"You know I am." The angel laughed. He came close to the boy and wrapped his arms around him kissing him once on the lips. "I do not know why Trowa did what he did, but I cannot accept it."   
  
Heero stroked the head resting on his shoulder. He knew, and he wondered if he should tell the angel he had in his arms.  
  
/I hate you. For making me love you and loving another. And I hate him for loving you back./  
  
***   
She looked out of the window in his room. She saw the pack lying on his cushions. He entered whistling but stopped when he saw his sister.  
  
"Relena."  
  
"You are leaving once again."  
  
"I have to."  
  
"I hate you Duo! Will I never be enough?" Duo looked at her sadly.  
  
"Why do you covet me so sister?"  
  
"Because you make me happy." Duo shook his head at his sister's selfishness. "Don't look at me like I am the selfish one! Can't you see he is hurting you Duo?"  
  
"And you are not my sister?"  
  
"Come build a future with me. I will make you happier than any elf can!"   
  
"You are beginning to sound like father!" Duo began, anger welling up inside of him.   
  
"Can't you see? I can never have a future with you." he said walking out on her.  
  
***  
He would leave soon. He wanted to talk to Relena, to make things right between them. He was angry last night and let out some words he did not mean to say. But a part of him told him it was better if he left things the way they were. This way she would no longer expect anything from him. This way she would hate him and forgetting him would somehow be easier.  
  
"Duo?" he looked at her standing half hidden in his doorway. "I need to show you something first please." He followed her silently.   
  
They reached the west wing of the palace and stopped at a door he had never seen before. She took hold of the silver doors and pushed it open.   
  
The light that assaulted his eyes blinded him and after a moment when they had adjusted he couldn't believe them. Inside was an ocean. Their ocean.   
  
"When was this made?"  
  
"I had it made when you left. Remember once you asked me to remind you to create an ocean for us?"  
  
"But I will never rule."  
  
"It does not matter." She led the way into the seemingly endless ocean, he felt the white sand at his feet and he couldn't believe how beautiful she made it. Even the sunset was perfect.   
  
She stopped in the middle of the beach bending down to pick something up. "Remember that day?"  
  
"Yes, it was the first time I ever saw Trowa." Her face fell. Duo looked at the conch shell in her hands. " It was also the day you gave me my ocean." He smiled. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "Looks like your gifts are getting bigger." He laughed.  
  
"Just remember Duo, I will always be here when you return. All of this will."  
  
"I will remember." He drew away from her and held her hand. "Thank you Relena, rule well." She smiled at the familiar words and memorized his back as he disappeared behind the silver doors once more.  
  
***  
The sun had set hours ago and still she sat on the beach, her toes buried in the sand. The moons had risen and Duo had left her again. She fingered the conch in her hands her mind lost. She drew from it the moon knife, which she had stolen from the high priest; it was the knife that carried out their executions. It was only one of five things that could end an angel's existence.  
  
/This would still be here brother, but I won't. You are never coming back. And I cannot suffer to live knowing I would never hold you again./  
  
/I gave you the ocean brother. What could he give you?/  
  
And she closed her eyes as the blade sheathed itself in her heart.  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
notes:  
i actually like the girls' part the best, relena's and hilde's which is part six...i feel like such a traitor!  
  
  
  



	5. An Elf's Ten Years

Characters aren't mine, appreciate comments though   
//-thougts   
  
  
into the realm of frozen dreams   
  
Part five:   
An Elf's Ten Years   
  
***   
He sees him smile his hair getting caught in every movement he made. His laughter echoes in his head. He had only known him for a hundred years but he knew he could not live without the Crowned Prince of the Angelic Empire.   
  
"I asked you once, I will ask you again, come with me Duo." His angel looked at him.   
  
"And where pray tell would we live?"   
  
"It does not matter, so long as we are together. I can face anything so long as you are here with me."   
  
"What if I said yes?"   
  
"You would make me happier than you could imagine."   
  
They left that night, stealing away into the darkness, leaving their heritages behind. And from that moment on they never left each other's side. Until that one day when he saw him falling to the earth and their lives were never the same.   
  
***   
  
Trowa sat up, and massaged his head. God he missed him.   
  
He looked in his hand and saw a single feather; he had taken it from the ground when he and Duo made love for the last time. It still smelled like him. He should hide it he knew before the Prince found it.   
  
On his back he made an incision just bellow his neck. He inserted the feather into the compartment between his skin and fat. His tattoo would conceal it and his skin could fool anyone that touched that part that it was nothing but what it seemed. Light skin darkened by an elaborate tattoo of the name of his angel.   
  
He laughed. The Dragon Prince loved his tattoo, what would he say if he found out it was actually Duo in ancient elven script?   
  
Oh god he missed him. That month together was heaven and that one-hour of pure ecstasy was enough to last him a hundred years more without his smile. But it could not mask the longing he felt.   
  
Why did he come back?   
  
***   
  
Wufei entered the Prince's chambers he needed to talk to him, which was partly true. But most of all he wanted to see him. Ever since they had returned he had barely left his room, imprisoning the elf with him. Wufei felt a bitter taste in his mouth whenever he imagined the Prince in his arms.   
  
They weren't in the room.   
  
He looked at the paintings on the wall. There was one of the prince as a child. He was already beautiful. There was one with his whole family. Which one was the mother of Queen Catherine? He could no longer remember. There was one with him in his full armor with his generals, he was in this one. In the shadows, always in the shadows. And there was another painting. It was of a boy in a grand armor, his long sword proclaiming he was of royal birth. But what caught the mage's eye were the sad green eyes that stared at you and begged you for something you could not give. Who was this boy?   
  
"Can I help you Wufei?" his voice caught him off guard and the mage almost jumped if it wasn't for his composure.   
  
"We must discuss the threat of Queen Une my lord." He said falling on his knee.   
  
"Threat? What threat? That pathetic kingdom will never stand up against our army." He said walking past Wufei and sitting on his dresser, not telling the mage to get up.   
  
"Are you not willing to give what they ask?"   
  
"No." he said motioning to his servants to begin brushing his hair.   
  
"He is just one man sire! Would you send out an army to die for him."   
  
"Yes I would." He said getting up and leaving.   
  
/All for a common concubine. He corrupts you and you let him. Why couldn't we have let him leave with the angel?/   
  
He looked out of the window and remembered when he was still young and the Prince was still his friend. They were lovers then. All those years he swallowed the longing he had eating him from within, for his lust had morphed into something even more dangerous, it became love. He adored the blond monarch and would have died for him.   
  
And in a way he did. For when he asked him to be his mage, he knew it was the end of everything he thought they had. And still he said yes.   
  
And somehow he knew why this concubine was worth going to war for. Someday he would tell him, it did not matter anymore whether it would ruin him. He wanted to claim those lips again one last time. He would claim him one last time, even if it cost him their lives.   
  
He saw the Prince join the elf in the garden a smile cemented on his face. The elf looked up at the window and their eyes locked for a moment before the Prince led him away.   
  
/I will claim you again my Quatre, no matter what the cost./   
  
He looked up at the painting once more and saw the elf in those green eyes.   
  
***   
A dragon scorned was worse than any beast on this earth. He made that conclusion as he listened to the heartbeat of the boy curled up beside him. He could still hear the pleas the mother of his children cried as they were led to the fire. He was powerless to save his sons and as the cries died down he finally saw what kind of monster the Prince truly was.   
  
The monster that had murdered his sons and was prepared to kill as many men as he needed to keep him in his harem. He did not know why he had such power over the Dragon's heart, perhaps he was his punishment for turning his back on his people.   
  
When he saw Duo once again he was made to make a decision. And no matter what he knew he loved the angel more than his life. And he would not let him suffer the wrath of a jealous dragon he told himself this. So long as he stayed with Duo, the angel's life would never be safe. And he made the only decision he could.   
  
If only he could erase the pain he felt as he woke up feeling the feather in his back, memories playing in his mind and his smile imprinted on his heart.   
  
He looked out at the piece of paper on the Prince's table. Did he wish for him to see it? His sister had proclaimed war when the Prince did not give him up. Now his kin stood at the dragon's lair and he knew for sure they would die.   
  
He closed his eyes, /going through this hell is worth it knowing that I saved you from it./   
  
He stood up, carefully leaving the bed lest the other occupant should awaken. And he went out onto the balcony, shivering in the cold air. He looked out on the sleeping country, the moon glistening on every rooftop.   
  
He looked up at the twin moons; they were full. And he remembered how it felt like holding Duo that one time. And he smiled.   
  
He heard soft footsteps entering and turned around to see his daughter carrying something in her arms. She came through the door of her room, which was joined to the Prince's through the balcony. She smiled coming close to him.   
  
"He hasn't come to see our child yet. I brought it to him."   
  
"He is asleep."   
  
"Oh...I'll return tomorrow then." She said turning to leave. He never really knew his daughter. He saw her on occasion and visited her when he could but he never really knew her.   
  
"What is it?" he asked trying to keep her from leaving.   
  
"A girl."   
  
"Ahhh finally a girl."   
  
"Yes. She has his hair, but our eyes." She smiled holding up the bundle in her arms. It was true; the infant had green eyes and little traces of blond hair. And she was beautiful.   
  
"She has her mother's charm." He smiled as the little girl wrapped her fist around his finger.   
  
"Did you ever love mama?" she asked suddenly. He looked at her not quite expecting her question.   
  
"I did in a way, one cannot help but learn to love the woman that bore him twelve sons and his only daughter." He smiled kissing her on the nose.   
  
"Tell me about her?" she asked as Trowa enveloped him in his arms.   
  
"She was beautiful." He said caught up in the memory of the princess with blond hair and doomed blue eyes. "And not everyone knew this, but she was funny. She would make me laugh when we were together. I miss how she would make me laugh. It's the little things that make you learn to love someone."   
  
"Can you really learn to love?" she asked drawing from his embrace.   
  
"I suppose."   
  
"Have you learned to love him?" He stopped unable to answer her.   
  
"I have borne him five sons and a daughter, I have been with him for almost a hundred years. And forgive me for still I cannot love him. Tell me papa, how long does it take to learn to love him?"   
  
He was silent.   
  
"I am sorry my daughter." He said finally.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"For siring you and making you live through this."   
  
"You live it one day at a time and when you can't take it anymore you remind yourself of the children you must raise. And suddenly it is worthwhile."   
  
"I would take you away from this if I could."   
  
"This is my life. I would not know how to live another; I belong here. But you father do not. Why did you comeback?"   
  
/Why indeed./ "If you had a choice Catherine, to find true love and loose it or to never fall in love to save yourself the pain of loosing him, which would you choose?"   
  
"I would rather fall in love." The child had fallen asleep in her arms and it was getting cold. She decided to bring her inside lest she should become ill. She bade her father goodnight and turned around to leave.   
  
"Father..." she stopped looking at him.   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"Maybe in time we can learn to love him. When that time finally comes, perhaps loosing the angel will not hurt as much."   
  
"Perhaps." He smiled.   
  
***   
"How long is it before we reach the gates of Hell?" he asked as they stopped to make camp.   
  
"Six more years." Duo's jaw dropped.   
  
"Man if I knew it was gonna take that long I would've brought more interesting travel companions! You two can make a rock snore!" he whined dropping into the bedding and drawing the blankets over his head.   
  
/Five years since he left me. Five years. I can still remember that night when you made love to me. Every time Heero takes me I close my eyes and pretend its you. How much longer love? I promised forever. I can give forever, can you?/   
  
***   
"Crowned Prince?" Milliardo came to him drawing him from his thoughts.   
  
"Heh that is a funny name."   
  
"Tomorrow there will be no turning back."   
  
"I've been in hell more times than you have my demon." He winked.   
  
"I meant with the path you chose."   
  
"Thank you for leading me here Milliardo, I hate it when the gates keep moving, it would have taken me more than six years to find it alone." He said evading what the demon was insinuating. Milliardo looked at him disapprovingly.   
  
"Hold out your hand Milliardo." he said stopping it from leaving. It did as it was told and he placed in his hand the golden chain that was the proof that he was its master.   
  
"Master?"   
  
"I release you. Go and frolic with your little demon friends." He smiled.   
  
"Crowned Prince, if you don't mind I would rather stay with you."   
  
  
Heero was out by the edge his feet dangling at the oblivion before him. His mind far away. It had been eleven years. Eleven long years. Five years they spent in Angel country, six years they journeyed to find Hell's gates. And now they are here.   
  
"Hey Heero." Duo sat beside him. He placed his head on the other boy's shoulder and they stared at the void for a long time.   
  
"Something is troubling you." he said.   
  
"Nah."   
  
"Remember when you asked me if my demon side gave me any skill?"   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"It did, I am the Taker of Secrets Duo. I steal your secrets from you." Duo looked at his friend. How long had he had this power? How long had he been feeding on their secrets?   
  
"Tell me then, what is mine demon-child?"   
  
"You secretly fear losing him forever to the handsome Prince. Of his own acquiescence." The angel's eyes filled with tears. It was true.   
  
"Promise me Heero, that you will never leave me? I never want to be alone." He said burying his face in the demon's shoulder.   
  
"I promise." He whispered kissing his angel and enfolding him in his arms.   
  
***   
Ten years she had fought and now she was tired.   
  
She walked into the Dragon Prince's court and raised her hand. "I come to see my brother."   
He looked sad. All her life she was never really close to her older brother, he had left long before she was born and her entire life she had only seen him thrice. This was the fourth. There was no exchange of affection, they greeted each other and that was it. She sat across from him, her armor glistening in the darkened room.   
  
"You look tired."   
  
"I am." She bowed her head in shame. "I came to ask for your forgiveness brother for I can no longer save you." she dropped to her knees before him weeping. Her army was inferior and this war was draining her resources. The dragons hungered for blood and that was something she was not prepared to shed torrents of.   
  
Trowa looked at the sky his eyes lost. It reminded him of a beautiful boy flying where the earth could never reach him. For a long time he stayed that way until finally turning to his sister, a sad smile gracing his handsome face.   
  
"I am well here, forget me. Take your army and go home."   
  
"Thank you Trowa." She bowed and turned to go.   
  
"I ask one favor sister." He whispered not looking at her. "Find Duo, tell him to let me go."   
  
***   
"You decided well Une, you will receive the ransom I promised." Prince Quatre laughed as she walked passed him.   
  
She told her men that the first born was already dead and they were to head back home.   
  
It is for the best, we would never have won against the Dragon Empire anyway. I have lost so many men already, and all for a Prince my people do not know, a brother I do not know.   
  
/What of the ransom Une? Was your brother's life worth so little?/   
  
/It would pay for my people's food, for my kingdom's survival. It was a small price to pay./   
  
The more she said it to herself the more she did not believe it.   
  
And she turned her back on the castle and that was the last time she had ever set foot inside the Dragon's kingdom.   
***   
  
  
notes: the timeline is a little confusing here. Everything that happened within Dragon country except Une's part happened within a year after Duo was left behind.   
  
Duo, Milliardo and Heero's part happened five years after Duo was left behind and they left the castle to look for hell which took around six years.   
  
Une's ten years happened five years after Duo left the castle plus five years so that's fifteen years since Duo was left behind.   
  
get? 


	6. Hell and it's Mistress

Characters are not mine, appreciate comments though   
//-thoughts   
  
  
  
into the realm of frozen dreams   
  
  
Part six:   
  
Hell and it's Mistress   
  
***   
The darkness was what he hated most about hell. It had its own mind and the as it seeped into your heart, the despair would be enough to lose your soul. He felt Heero's hand tighten around his. He smiled he was incredibly brave.   
  
"I haven't been here for so long." He heard Milliardo sigh.   
  
The tunnel seemed to go one forever. Eternal darkness where you could feel nothing and cold voices breathed into your ears, chilling you from within.   
  
Did he not choose the Prince over you? Why do you keep chasing him? If you take him do you think he would be taken?   
  
A blinding light and they found themselves in hell's throne room.   
  
The tall dais was perched on top of a long flight of stairs. The great hall was bare only the throne and the curtains falling from the domed ceiling. Winged angels hung from the ceiling, those that had fallen were the Demon Queen's most prized possession. His heart stopped as his eyes caught his sister's.   
  
"Well, well, well if it isn't Crowned Prince Duo of the Angels." A voice sneered at them from above.   
  
They strained their eyes to get a glimpse of the owner of the voice. Seated on her throne was the child Queen of the Demons. The twelve-foot chair made its small inhabitant even more miniscule.   
  
"Hello Queen Hilde." Duo bowed. Milliardo climbed the steps and bowed to kiss the Queen's hand.   
  
"Oh my, is this Milliardo?" she laughed. "He is beautiful, perhaps you should have never given him away Noin." Heero's eyes shifted from the young face of the queen to the one sitting beside her throne. Its head was laid on the Queen's lap she was running her fingers through its hair. Heero's eyes widened.   
  
"What brings you to my realm?" she asked, her voice eternally a child's and unlike her people, she never shifted, she always stayed female. And she had only one companion, the eternally shifting Noin. It would never be satisfied with only one form or one partner. That was why it had not been proclaimed the Queen's King. Yet the Queen would not take another companion, only her elusive prize graced her chambers.   
  
"I need to slay a dragon." Duo answered. The halls echoed with her laughter.   
  
"So the elf has been taken from you." she sighed. "Duo, poor Duo don't you see that it is a waste of time to run after something? You would only tire yourself. Find another!"   
  
Duo smiled at her, Noin looked up and caught Duo's eyes but its eyes moved to the boy beside him and it smiled. From where they were standing it was impossible to tell what gender Noin was now.   
  
"Give me the liquid fire my Queen, please."   
  
"You are pathetic first born, this elf you so treasure, are you sure he is worth everything that you have given up?"   
  
Duo was silent. "You are a fool!"   
  
"My Queen..." Milliardo tried to argue. Queen Hilde raised a hand to silence him.   
  
"Stay with me first born and I will decide whether you will receive what you wish of me." she said waiving them away.   
  
"Thank you my Queen." Duo bowed. Noin stood up and went to the two foreigners. Its hand brushing Heero's cheek.   
  
"Your mother is with me child." It moved its face close to his cheek and passed its coarse tongue across it. A demon's kiss. "And you are beautiful."   
  
Queen Hilde's expression grew cold once more. "So this is your son."   
  
"Yes." Noin said showing its son with a father's pride. The queen eyed the boy with something akin to distaste.   
  
"Half-breed." Was all she said. "Come now Noin, I am tired let us retire." She got up and Noin followed her like an obedient dog.   
  
Heero followed his father with his eyes.   
  
"Let us go to our quarters as well." Milliardo offered giving his hand, which Duo took and they walked into the darkened hallway.   
  
***   
Heero's hand stood poised on the door, what would he see on the other side?   
  
He barely remembered his mother, he had only spent fifteen years in her arms before his village was massacred he was taken away by the Dragon Prince's horde. But he remembered her hands. Fragile and delicate and soft. He would watch her weaving for hours, mesmerized in the way her wrists moved and how her fingers let the shuttle fly.   
  
He remembered how she buttoned his shirts and how she slapped him whenever he slandered his father.   
  
And he remembered how she wiped his tears away.   
  
Knock.   
  
"Yes." He heard her voice. He pushed the heavy bronze doors and tentatively peered inside. Her back turned to him, she motioned for him to sit beside her. He shrugged.   
  
She was sitting on an antique chair; the pattern carved on the wood Victorian, everything in hell was Victorian. She was facing a small table her eyes focused on a potted yellow tulip in the middle. Heero took the seat next to her.   
  
"Mama..."   
  
"Ssssh." She whispered putting her finger to her lips. The tulip began to open and singing filled the room, Heero looked around the room trying to find the ghostly singer when something caught his eye. Inside the tulip, gray and gossamer was the image of a woman, her feet planted in the tulip's heart and her face, melancholy matching her song.   
  
Something ached at his heart seeing her beautiful face; her voice commanded him to listen to her wordless song and to memorize her almost forgotten face. Her closed eyes and her arms wrapped around her nakedness she sang until her song was finished and she turned to ash falling onto her flowered prison which wilted away leaving no remnant of the girl.   
  
"And with that another soul is condemned." His mother finished. "Hell is beautiful and horrible at the same time." she smiled turning to him. "You are not Noin!" she gasped.   
  
"It is me mama, Heero." He said looking at her.   
  
"I had a son named Heero once. But they took him away from me." she said her voice wistful. "He had the most beautiful eyes. " she turned her attention elsewhere and Heero shook his head in his confusion.   
  
"Mama it is me!"   
  
"We had a song." She stood up and began to sing the lullaby she used to sing to her son.   
Listen I have a secret.   
A secret love no one knows.   
He will come to me when the nightingales sing.   
And we will leave for the land of the Ocean king!   
He will bring me a rose, and a coffin and he will set me free.   
For....   
  
Heero looked at her painfully. "For jealous death hath taken him from me." he finished.   
  
"That's not how it goes." She snapped at him.   
  
"Mama, it is me!" he stressed taking her wrists in his arms.   
  
"Let go of me!" she screamed. "You are the demon Queen and you will take Noin away from me!" she said in tears,   
  
"I know how you tell my love lies and how you try to keep it from me!"   
  
"Mama..."   
  
"Keep away demon Queen or I will tear your heart out! " she said drawing into a corner. Heero stared at her horrified. He began to walk toward the door slowly and paused once more to look at her, she had began to dance to a music all her own. And Heero shook his head sadly.   
  
***   
Duo looked up at the sky, nothing was more beautiful than Hell's sky. There was no place with as many stars as there were here and it was eternally clear.   
  
"Crowned Prince?" he heard Milliardo come toward him.   
  
"Yes Milliardo." He said not taking his eyes from the sky.   
  
"You should rest now."   
  
"I remember one night not long ago when I looked up at the sky." He said lost in his own thoughts. "And no disrespect but your little carpet of stars cannot compare to it! Won't even come close." He smiled. That was the most beautiful sky he had ever seen no matter that the clouds obscured a third of the stars and the twin moons casting a ghastly light on everything it touched. It was still the most beautiful sky.   
  
"I don't know why you still serve me. I set you free." He smirked looking at him. "Get it through your thick demon head!"   
  
Little flecks of light began to pour from the heavens, coating them with tiny diamonds.   
  
"What is this?" he asked catching some of the diamonds in his hands.   
  
"It is the rain of tears my lord." Milliardo said looking up at the sky himself. Duo picked one up with his finger and brought it near his lips but it turned into water the moment it was touched and by the time it reached his lips it was nothing more than salty tears.   
  
"I do not remember this." He laughed dancing in the falling crystals.   
  
"It has always been here, it's just that the world did not use to shed so much." Duo stopped abruptly in his pirouette.   
  
"If that is so than most of these are mine." He laughed sadly.   
  
***   
Wufei stared at the sheets in his hands his eyes filled with disgust and longing. And quickly lest someone should see him he brought it to his nostrils and inhaled deeply. He stopped suddenly aware of the other presence in the room.   
  
"Pathetic isn't it?" he scoffed. The other did not answer him. "You must think I am pathetic."   
  
"No. Just sad." His voice was low.   
"He was mine before he ever became yours!" he spat at the other throwing the sheet back at the bed.   
"I never asked him to be mine." Trowa said not moving from where the shadows concealed him.   
"And still you took him!" Wufei's face burned with the humiliation. "How dare you mock me elf!"   
"I do not mock you."   
"By the look in your eyes you do."   
"Forgive me then."   
"He was mine."   
"So he was."   
"And now you have taken him from me."   
"Why do you not take him back?" the mage shot him with a penetrating gaze full of hatred and disdain. "Oh I see. The curse of a mage and his lord." He couldn't help himself. He laughed.   
"You dare mock me!"   
"This time I do."   
"I should kill you."   
"Perhaps you should." Wufei stopped as if he was actually considering Trowa's challenge.   
  
"No elf. I would hurt you where it would pain you the most." Trowa's heart stopped. "I will take him back from you." the mage smiled.   
  
Trowa couldn't keep it in any longer and he burst out laughing. Wufei shouted curses at him but he did not hear them, he was too busy trying to keep his side from splitting. When he had regained his composure the mage was no where in sight and he wiped the tears from his eyes.   
  
/These dragons are peculiar. Vainglorious and thick as a brick!/   
  
He smiled. That was something Duo would have said.   
  
  
***   
Duo fidgeted in his seat and tugged at his collar.   
  
/Stupid ruffles! Why can't they wear normal clothes?/   
  
They were seated in the large dinning room waiting for their hosts to arrive. Seated beside him was Heero and Milliardo sat across him. He tugged at his collar once more.   
  
"Duo stop that." Heero scolded him.   
  
"I can't believe you can sit there and stand this Victorian ruffles and lace number!" he said behaving himself.   
  
"Duo it has been sixteen years, you are the only one who hasn't gotten used to these clothes." Duo stopped has it been that long? Has he been here that long? Sixteen years and not even one step closer to retrieving the phoenix blood. He wondered if he should just kill one and drain the liquid fire from its veins. He shook his head then he would have to fight off Queen Hilde's horde as well as the dragon army.   
  
Just then the Queen came into the room in all her ruffled glory escorted by Noin. They stood up to greet her and she sat on the head of the table. Duo watched Noin walk toward the end of the twenty-seat table and wondered why it always did that. Eat in solitude while they were only at the other end.   
  
"So angel, what have you done today?" the queen asked. Duo sighed. This was getting tedious. Everyday for the last sixteen years they would meet at dinner and she would ask him this.   
  
"I watched someone die your majesty." He said smiling.   
  
"Oh? Well that is refreshing." She smiled. They began to eat and Duo kept looking at Noin. Deciding why it still bothered to join them. "Do you still fancy it Duo?" he jumped at her question and tried to focus his attention to his suddenly interesting plate.   
  
"Noin, come here a moment dearest." She called. Like an obedient child it got up and went to her side. "Tell me Duo, does it look better as a woman or a man?"   
  
Duo's eyes widened. "Noin was a female when we were lovers." He muttered quietly; he knew that Noin was a sore spot for the queen.   
  
"So you like it better female?" Queen Hilde smiled. "Truthfully it is better to get a demon lover, you get variety with the way they change sexes." She winked and brought her goblet to her lips. "Not to mention they are better lovers than most races." She laughed.   
  
"Hilde..." something in the demon's tone made them look toward it. "I am not a toy to be discussed anytime you wish." It said through clenched teeth. "I can only take so much and you my dear always go to far." It finished storming out of the room.   
  
Queen Hilde got up and reached the demon before it had completely left the room. Some words were spoken between them, they argued a little. It seemed comical at first to see them; the queen trying to coax her lover like a parent would her child when it seemed that Hilde was the child between them. Suddenly the queen pushed Noin up against the wall and began to kiss it passionately her hands trying to find something to grasp. It wrapped its arms around her and the others were about to excuse themselves when Noin pushed her away.   
  
"I will see you tomorrow Hilde." It muttered leaving the room. The queen watched it walk away for a moment before returning to her guests with her smile back in place and her cheeks flushed from embarrassment or exertion one couldn't tell.   
  
"So you were saying about your day?" she said as she sat down once more.   
  
***   
He pushed open the door, letting his eyes adjust to the dimly lit room. He stopped in the doorway seeing her in its arms. He was about to turn around when a voice stopped him.   
  
"Come here Heero." His father called.   
  
"I passed by and saw the door open I thought something happened to her." He reasoned trying to avoid it.   
  
"Oh I see, I must have left it open." It said still motioning for him to sit down. Heero sighed and closed the door settling into the chair. "You pass by her door every night don't you? You check on her. You must love her." Noin's back was leaning on the foot of the bed and his mother lay in its arms her head on his shoulder. Heero just looked at his parents.   
  
"Heh, look at us complete at last." The demon smiled wistfully. "I knew she would come to this." It whispered smoothing her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ears. "Humans will not last long in the demon Queen's castle, they would eventually lose their minds."   
  
"Then why did you let her?" Noin looked at him.   
  
"I never could say no to her."   
  
"But you did." He said his voice void of emotions.   
  
"I thought it was for the best. But it seems I just hurt her." It said quietly.   
  
"She is afraid the queen might harm her."   
  
"Hilde would never dare harm her. Not if she wishes that I stay with her."   
  
"Hn."   
  
"I will take care of her. This time I promise I will." It said planting a kiss on her cheek. Heero got up and left them, closing the door on his way out.   
  
***   
When it opened the door to Duo's chambers it didn't expect to see Noin's child sitting on the bed. Its own surprised look mirroring the ones in the blue eyes staring back at it.   
  
"I did not know you slept with him as well." He said looking away.   
  
"Ah..." was all it said.   
  
"How long?" Heero knew he had no right to be jealous but the pain still stabbed at him.   
  
"Since we arrived here, when you are weren't there." It said sheepishly. "You, how long have you..."   
  
"Since Langit." He said something akin to pride welling up in his chest at the knowledge that Duo found consolation in his arms first.   
  
"I actually came to say goodbye. I can't take it anymore." Heero's eyebrows raised at the demon's confession. "You do know that we are only substitutes don't you?"   
  
"Sometimes I pretend I am not." he said sadly.   
  
"That is dangerous." It whispered awkwardly.   
  
"To love him is dangerous." He answered.   
  
"That is why I am pulling out before I fall even farther than where I am now." it said looking at the boy. "You should too."   
  
"It is too late for me."   
  
"Ah... I pity you then." It smiled moving towards the window. "And I pity myself as well."   
  
"Demons fall only once you know and its forever." it said looking out of at the evening sky. "Just our luck we had to fall for him." a silence fell between them.   
  
"I too used to pretend. And then I got tired of pretending."   
  
"Milliardo..." it faced him. Heero looked at it sadly. The demon came towards the bed and tentatively kissed the other boy wrapping its arms around the smaller one's waist. He kissed back.   
  
Both of them closed their eyes and pretended. Pretended one last time. Pretended that it was the angel they were making love to and that it would not end the moment the sunrise touched the curtains of his room.   
  
***   
She looked at her sleeping lover. Its arm draped around the human.   
  
She smiled; she liked it better when it was female too.   
  
/An eternity's worth of my love and you still return to her arms./   
  
***   
He looked up at her blank face, and kissed her cheek, she stirred a little and then returned to her empty stare. He wrapped his old clothes around her shoulders, tucking it into her chains so it wouldn't fall off.   
  
/A gift my sister. A gift from the land we came from./   
  
He fluttered to the floor and raised his eyes one last time. In his sixteen years in this place, he only had the courage to visit her today. His guilt washing over him.   
  
"She was beautiful." She came into the room standing beside him.   
  
"Yes she was." He looked away. "Can't sleep my Queen?"   
  
"No." she sighed. "You know sometimes it is better to walk away Duo."   
  
"My lady?"   
  
"When you hold on to something, something you can't quite keep. You will cause him more grief than you could ever imagine. Some things are better left where they are." She looked up at her angels.   
  
"And sometimes no matter how much you want to you can no longer let go."   
  
"My Queen..."   
  
"You are running out of titles my child." She smiled. "Promise me you will not hold on to him if he does not wish to be held by you."   
  
"I promise." He said after sometime. She opened her hand and revealed a vial filled with golden liquid.   
  
"Here is your poison. It is your poison make no mistake about that."   
  
"Thank you." he said taking the vial from her hand.   
  
"Give me a kiss Angel kind's first born for you will ask one last gift from me." She smiled and tilted his face to hers as they shared their first and final kiss.   
  
***   
He looked at her sleeping form. They would leave soon and he wanted to sat goodbye. If only she recognized him.   
  
"I am leaving mama..." he whispered to her ear.   
  
"Heero?" she asked in her sleep.   
  
"Yes."   
  
"Hmmm what are you doing here sweetheart?"   
  
"I came to see you."   
  
"Oh, you're father is here." He almost laughed. She only identified him in her sleep.   
  
"I know." he smiled stroking her hair. "Mama how do you keep from falling in love?" he asked not really wanting to hear an answer but wanting to say it nonetheless.   
  
"You can't. " she whispered falling back into sleep. He hummed their lullaby as she mouthed the words. "...for jealous death hath taken him from me..." she muttered.   
  
"Heero we must leave now." Milliardo called from the outside.   
  
"Sleep well mama." he smiled kissing her on the forehead.   
  
***   
The liquid fire burned his palms but Duo did not care. He would kill the Dragon Prince. They stepped out of the iron gates and were greeted by a world aged by twenty years.   
  
"Duo, is that you?" he whipped around and saw Une come running toward him.   
  
"We are in elfin country?" He asked suddenly stunned.   
  
"The gate takes us where we need to be." Milliardo muttered.   
  
"I needed to see you, thank heavens you are here." She said reaching them. "I carry a message from Trowa..."   
  
***   
Part of him wanted to run away from him and find Duo and die in his arms. Part of him couldn't leave. He had caused so much pain to so many around him and this was the only way he knew to make it right. For once he wouldn't be selfish. For once he would forget his own heart.   
  
/If only it were that easy to forget./   
  
"Trowa, come here luv." He called.   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"Look at this, if we put the army here...." He looked at the Prince's blue eyes. Could he forget?   
  
***   
"But I don't understand..." Wufei reasoned.   
  
"Haha you are an idiot!" Prince Quatre laughed waving his hand in the air. "   
  
"We were lovers."   
  
"Yes we were but that was ages ago. Oh don't tell me you actually fell in love with me?" the confused look on the mage's face made him laugh even more. "You poor, poor boy. Don't you get it? I needed the strongest mage to protect me! And I would have done everything in my power to ensure that I will ascend to the throne. Even if I had to fuck a virgin, awkward, apprentice conjuror."   
  
"But..."   
  
"Oh Wufei you slay me!" he laughed one more time. "But now since you did bring it up, I have no more use for you, seeing as I have all the dragon mages at my beck and call!"   
  
"I was..."   
  
"You were the best, and I had the best now you have outgrown your usefulness." He winked at the confused boy.   
  
"So you may leave now, I relieve you from your duty." Wufei just stared at him disbelief plastered all over his face.   
  
"Oddly enough you were the only one that was a real threat to me." he laughed once more as Wufei turned his back to leave. "Oh and for what it is worth, you were a great lay."   
  
"You turned him against me you dirty whore!" he spat at his face. Trowa calmly wiped his spittle from his eye and looked at him.   
  
"If that is what you believe than you are a moron." He said walking past him.   
  
"I will take him back." Trowa stopped and looked back at the seething dragon mage.   
  
"May I remind you that you have a separation spell cast between you. Touch him now and both of you will die." He said walking on.   
  
Wufei looked at his hands, the shame and disappointment coloring him a different shade of red. And as he looked up at the Prince and his lover in their tower he found that he no longer cared.   
  
He would make the Prince see that he was meant for him and only him, even if it destroyed them both.   
  
***   
He raised the vial to the sun, letting its golden shadow fall on his face. This was dragon poison.   
  
He was back in the woods, he had spent so many happy years here, this was where he was set free by Trowa, this was where all he ever wanted to be he became. This was where his world ended.   
  
This was dragon poison.   
  
He let the vial, fall from his hand and closed his eyes as he heard the glass shatter.   
  
"A promise is a promise." He sighed turning to Heero. "Now I have destroyed so many dreams I can no longer remember when I have become so selfish." He stopped looking once more up at the sky.   
  
"I have someplace else to be Heero." He whispered.   
  
"Don't Duo."   
  
"You don't understand." He said defeated, he left him and disappeared into the darkness of the woods.   
  
/But I do Duo, for I have stolen your secrets./   
  
***   
"I know you are here." He called out. "Remind me to thank the Queen for her prudence in sending you out here and saving me the trouble of searching for Hell once more."   
  
"Think of what you will lose Duo." Noin said melting from the shadows perched on a branch.   
  
"It is not what I would lose but what I would gain."   
  
"This is foolish first born."   
  
"So it is." He stripped himself of all of his clothes and kneeled before the silver pool. Noin approached him, its hands clasped.   
  
***   
"There was one secret I think I should have told him." Heero said coming to his father's side. Noin threw away Duo's lacerated wings. Licking its hands free of angel blood.   
  
"You told him all he needed to know."   
  
"It seems unfair somehow, that something as beautiful as he would forfeit his immortality."   
  
"It is fate's will and it is the path he has chosen." It looked at Duo's naked body curled on the floor. "Bathe him Taker of Secrets, his fate has run its course and this is what the world decreed him to be." Noin disappeared into the shadows once more and Heero was left with the shivering Duo.   
  
***   
  
notes: when they left hell it was around ten years after the war between elfin kind and the dragons ended   
I like this part, I like hilde's characters the best ;P 


	7. A Farewell

Part seven:  
  
A Farewell   
  
***  
Trowa looked out of the window in the room they shared. Prince Quatre was still lying on the bed, his eyes surveyed the kingdom beneath them. It had been twenty years since he last saw him and he prayed that he was ruling Langit now with Relena by his side. And perhaps he was happy. Perhaps they would meet again and he would tell him why he did what he did. Perhaps he would forgive him.  
  
His eyes rested upon a figure beneath the tower's window staring up at him. Through his flittering hair and worn clothes he saw his violet eyes and the scars on his back. And Trowa knew. And he knew he was wrong. Perhaps in time he would forgive himself.  
  
Duo looked up at him, smiled sadly and turned around disappearing into the dark forest.   
  
He brought out the single white feather. And brought it to his nose, inhaling what Duo used to be. He kissed it lightly and let it fall out of the window. Never taking his eyes off the dancing sliver of white as it was devoured by the world beneath him.  
  
***  
  
  
notes: i originally intended for the fic to end here, but my cuz said i should make a happy ending for once so i did, I made one for trowa and heero, it's like choose your own ending, both can be found in my page. So all of those needing a little hug after reading all that angst can click on the link to my page and go read the endings i made for her. This is not some shameless ploy to get you to visit my site its just I don't feel right about posting the endings since I don't own them.  
  
But for me this is the real ending.  
  
This fic has garnered its share of good and bad reviews and I would like to apologize for my inexperience. If I had offended anyone that was not my intention, I am not a writer after all, just a kid with an idea 


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